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What is Smart Games?
Smart Games LLC is a small software company, owned by David Fotland, that develops and publishes turn-based strategy games with strong engines and accessible interfaces. Its main focus is Go, which the site calls the hardest classic strategy game for computers, and its flagship product is The Many Faces of Go 12.0. That program combines Monte Carlo Tree Search with traditional knowledge-based techniques, and adds Joseki and Fuseki tutors, commented professional games and Go problems. It also offers calibrated levels from 1 dan to 18 kyu so players can track their strength.
Beyond Go, Smart Games publishes Arimaa, a two-player strategy game whose program won the Arimaa computer world championship five times and offers an adjustable opponent for learners. The site also lists free downloads, including an evaluation copy of Many Faces of Go, a 9x9 Go player and tutorial for Windows, and a supercomputer version for Windows Server clusters.
A practical next step: if you are a Go player who wants a sparring partner that adjusts to your level and includes study material, start with the free evaluation copy of Many Faces of Go and see whether its teaching tools match how you like to practice. If you prefer a different abstract strategy game, try the free Arimaa download instead.
How does Many Faces of Go's difficulty calibration work to track my playing strength?
Many Faces of Go tracks your strength by adjusting its playing level against you, using a calibrated scale from roughly 1 dan down to 18 kyu. The page describes the program as offering "calibrated levels from 1 Dan kyu to 18 kyu to track your strength," so the ranking you see is meant to reflect how you perform against the engine at each setting rather than a fixed, unchanging opponent. The engine itself combines Monte Carlo Tree Search with traditional knowledge-based Go techniques, which the developer says produces a player stronger than either method alone.
In practice, this means you can treat the level as a moving benchmark: play games at your current setting, and the program's calibrated levels give you a way to see whether you are holding your own, improving, or ready to move up. The page does not spell out the exact mechanism for how the rating is recalculated after each game, so treat the specific adjustment rules as something to confirm inside the program itself.
A useful next step is to start one or two levels below where you think you are, play several games at that setting, and only then move up—this gives the calibration something consistent to measure against. If you also want structured practice alongside rated play, the same product includes Joseki and Fuseki tutors, commented professional games, and Go problems, which let you work on specific weaknesses between games. The free 9x9 tutorial program on the same site is a reasonable warm-up for beginners before committing to the full 19x19 experience.
Can I run Many Faces of Go on a Mac, and what do I need?
Yes, but only through a compatibility layer. Many Faces of Go is built for Windows, and the site states that Mac users can run it via WINE, Crossovers, or Parallels. There is no native Mac version mentioned.
What you need
- A copy of Many Faces of Go 12.0 (the free evaluation download, then a purchased registration key to unlock the full version).
- One of the compatibility tools above installed on your Mac. Parallels runs a full Windows environment; WINE and Crossovers translate Windows calls directly. Parallels is the most reliable but heaviest option; WINE is the lightest but can need tinkering.
- Enough disk space and, for Parallels, a Windows license.
Practical considerations
- Performance: the engine is compute-heavy, so expect slower play under emulation than on native Windows. Calibrated levels (1 dan to 18 kyu) should still work, but response times may stretch.
- Features like the Joseki/Fuseki tutors, commented pro games and go problems are part of the Windows program, so they run inside the same compatibility layer.
- The free 9x9 tutorial player is also Windows-only; Mac users who want a native option on iPhone/iPad should note the Igowin apps were removed from the App Store and are no longer available.
If you mainly want a quick Mac-friendly start, try the free evaluation copy under WINE first; if it runs smoothly, buy the key. If you need guaranteed stability or plan to use it heavily, Parallels with a Windows install is the safer route.
What is the difference between the free evaluation copy and the purchased license of Many Faces of Go?
The free evaluation copy is a downloadable version of Many Faces of Go 12 that you can try before buying; the purchased license supplies registration keys that unlock the full version on all of your computers. In other words, the software download is the same, and payment changes its status from evaluation to registered.
Practical difference
- Evaluation copy: lets you assess the program without committing to a purchase. The site does not specify here whether the evaluation is time-limited, feature-limited or both, so check the download or FAQ before relying on it for a long trial.
- Purchased license: unlocks the full version and, according to the site, works across all your computers rather than tying you to one machine.
- Updates: the site notes a free update to version 12.024 that fixes Windows registration-code issues, which matters mainly to licensed users entering keys.
Who should choose which
If you are new to Go software or unsure whether the engine suits your level, start with the evaluation copy and use it for a few real games. If you already know you want the calibrated 1 dan to 18 kyu levels, the Joseki and Fuseki tutors, commented professional games and go problems, the license is the straightforward route. A club player preparing for a tournament might evaluate for a week, then buy once the opponent's strength tracking proves useful.
For a free alternative aimed at beginners, the site also offers a separate 9x9 Go player and tutorial for Windows that adjusts to your strength.
How does the Arimaa program's adjustable opponent help beginners learn the game?
The Arimaa program's adjustable opponent lets beginners set the computer's playing strength to a level they can handle, then tighten it as their understanding of the game improves. The site describes it as "an adjustable opponent to help you learn and improve your game" and notes the program won the Arimaa computer world championship five times. In practice, that combination matters: you get an engine strong enough to punish real mistakes, but you can dial it back so a first game is not a string of losses.
What a beginner actually does with it
- Start below full strength. Play a few games at a reduced setting to learn how pieces move, how traps work, and what losing a piece to a trap feels like.
- Raise the level after wins. When you win consistently, move the setting up one notch. The opponent stays just beyond your current skill, which keeps games instructive rather than hopeless.
- Replay and compare. After a loss, go back through the moves to find where a piece was left exposed near a trap. The adjustable opponent makes those mistakes repeatable and visible, because a weaker setting will not simply crush you before you can see the pattern.
Where the limits are
An adjustable opponent teaches tactics and basic strategy well, but it does not explain moves the way a human coach or annotated game would. A beginner who only plays the engine may plateau without knowing why. Pairing it with the official rules and practice material at Arimaa gives the missing context: learn the rules there, then use the program to test what you have learned.
As a next step, decide your target: if you want to beat casual human opponents, keep the setting low and focus on avoiding trap losses; if you want to play competitively, raise the level steadily and review each loss for the move where your position first went wrong.
Are the Igowin Go apps for iPhone and iPad still available to download?
No. The site says the iPod, iPhone and iPad Go-playing and training apps sold under the Igowin name from 2010 to 2020 are no longer available: Apple made incompatible changes to its software and removed them from the App Store.
For iPhone or iPad Go practice today, look for a currently maintained app in the App Store and check that it still receives updates. On Windows, the site offers a free 9x9 Go player and tutorial, plus a free evaluation copy of Many Faces of Go.
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